e-Notes

IIEC-India partnered with UNDP and the Indian Railways to assist in large scale deployment of solar energy in Indian Railways under the “Railways Solar Mission”. This mission is a part of the Indian government's National Solar Mission in which the Indian Railways plans to commission 1000 MW of solar power across its network by 2020. IIEC mapped over 50 potential international partners ranging from technology providers, service providers to financing institutions which could potentially help the Indian Railways achieve its target. This was done through extensive stakeholder engagement and discussions, which helped in forging relationships with key players for entering into long term partnerships with Indian Railways for solarizing railways. Additionally, IIEC also suggested entry points for the Indian Railways through which more leads and state of the art work could be undertaken. Ultimately for the deployment of the project, IIEC also developed innovative financing mechanisms, as well as technological options that could be explored for these partnerships.

On July 23, 2018, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote Thailand’s Energy Efficiency program for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and enhance cooperation on energy efficiency. This program aims to support SMEs in Thailand’s industrial sector to help them achieve the following: 1) Reduction in production cost through improvement in energy efficiency; 2) Increase in competitiveness; 3) Increased access to finance; 4) Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and other negative environmental impacts and; 5) Sustainability. The main focus of the Program is on creating financial tools to address key barriers to greater energy efficiency (EE) investments in the SME sector. One of its key objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of a design concept on EE in the SME auto parts manufacturing and other industry sectors, develop a financing structure that can be replicated for scaling up investments in EE. In this program, IIEC provides technical support to GGGI/PEA in designing On-bill financing (OBF)/Repayment (OBR) mechanism to facilitate investments in EE improvements/projects by end-users. The OBR scheme will initially focus on the 5 most energy consuming end-uses/ technologies, i.e. lighting, air-conditioners, air-compressors, motors, and VSDs in the demonstration phase.

IIEC-India was commissioned to undertake a scoping study to support the development of a long-term clean air project in India by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). SDC aims to support and strengthen on-going initiatives by the India government in its drive for abatement of air pollution in select cities and states in India.  The study focused on reviewing current programmes and state of affairs related to air pollution in 2 Indian states (UP and Maharashtra) and 4 cities (Lucknow, Kanpur, Nashik, and Pune) that were selected through an extensive multi-criteria analysis and stakeholder engagements. Several gaps related to air pollution management and monitoring were revealed including;  lack of capacity in reliable collection and analysis of air-quality data, insufficient management of clean air actions plans (both new and existing), limited technical capacities of key nodal agencies, insufficient coordination between concerned department and low public awareness on the issue. Based on the gaps, areas of intervention and activities were proposed in the scoping study which would provide the basis for the design of the detailed long-term project.

As part of a cooperation with the Lao PDR Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) and the Ministry of National Resources and Environment (MONRE) which acts as a National Designated Authority (NDA) for the Green Climate Fund (GCF), jointly organized a GCF Consultation Workshop on “Market Transformation of Energy Efficient Lighting, Air Conditioners and Refrigerators in Lao PDR”, on September 19, 2018 in Vientiane Capital. Participants included representatives from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC), the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the Electricité du Laos (EDL), the Lao Statistics Bureau (LSB) and the National University of Laos (NUOL). IIEC is contracted to prepare and finalize the "GCF’s Readiness and Preparatory Support Proposal” in consultation with key national stakeholders to establish a clearly defined scope, outputs, tasks, specific activities, estimated time and budget required to access funding under the GCF Readiness Programme. The proposed readiness request aims to build on existing work done in Lao PDR on policy, regulations on efficient lighting and room air conditioners, strengthen country capacity in designing and implementing MEPS and labeling program and develop an implementation plan for large scale energy efficiency implementation of S&L programs, in order to accelerate the market transformation towards energy efficient lighting and electrical appliances and  enable Lao PDR in achieving national commitments. 

IIEC-India successfully implemented an on-ground program for improved health services for socio-economic development in selected villages in the State of Uttarakhand in India, supported by Syneos Health. The focus of the program was to provide solar electricity to Primary Health Centres so that they are able to function more effectively and provide better care facilities for the local communities. The availability of 24x7 electricity in Primary Health Centres also ensured availability of resources to store necessary and life-saving medicines; a service which was not available earlier. Through this initiative, IIEC has been able to mobilize the support of local communities and doctors and help build a sense of ownership amongst the villagers for this project. The local villagers and doctors in charge were trained on the day-to-day maintenance of the lighting system. Along with this, the project and equipment were officially transferred to the Gram Panchayats (village council) and the doctors-in-charge, an example of building a sense of ownership amongst the local community. Given the success of this project, IIEC is working to expand the scope of this initiative to more villages along with the inclusion of the education sector. 

IIEC is contracted under United for Efficiency (U4E) – a public-private partnership led by UN Environment and other international organizations – to conduct market and technology assessment on lighting, refrigerators and air conditioners in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam to understand market status, trends and savings potential of energy efficiency policies, as well as to improve the accuracy of the country baseline market. The six key areas are captured for each of the targeted countries i.e. policy context, technology summary, market overview, shipments summary, end-use application characterization, and energy savings estimate. The output from this project will facilitate a market transformation towards more energy-efficient appliances and lighting, and thereby reduce the rate of growth in electricity demand and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while simultaneously increasing energy access and improving reliability.

IIEC-India had been commissioned as a lead organizer and technical consultant by the World Bank Group and the Energy Efficiency Services Limited  (EESL) to deliver the South-South Knowledge Exchange (SSKE) Program in Energy Efficiency, a five-day knowledge exchange program in June in New Delhi, India. The program was designed as a collaborative platform to provide opportunities to South Asia Region countries for knowledge exchange and learning in order to enhance their capacity to deliver energy efficiency (EE) and Demand Side Management (DSM) programs. 
Forty energy efficiency practitioners from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cote d’Ivoire, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Morocco, Kenya, Mauritius, Korea, and India participated in the program. The program was organized by the World Bank and Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), India in collaboration with Korea Energy Agency (KEA) and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), India with support from the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF). 
Eminent energy specialists like Dr. Ajay Mathur, Director General, TERI, Mr. Saurabh Kumar, Managing Director, EESL and Dr. Ashok Sarkar, Senior Energy Specialist, World Bank attended the program.
Mr. Saurabh Kumar, EESL, greatly encouraged the need for such exchange programs and said: “Such exchanges have helped in the transfer of knowledge and experience, helps us to do what we do”.
Dr. Ashok Sarkar, World Bank announced the USD 300 million approved loan to EESL for scaling up energy efficiency programs in India. “This is the first of its kind in the world for enhancing the efforts in energy efficiency.” Dr. Sarkar shared, “of this loan, 80 million USD would be used to generate more bonds”.
Mr. Sanjay Dube, Director, IIEC India, concluded the program by encouraging participants to interact with the esteemed set of speakers and with each other. “We hope that through such programs participants are able to build long-term fruitful partnerships to design and implement innovative EE programs in their respective countries and learn from each other”.

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The second issue of the APUEA Magazine is now available to read or download from APUEA's website. In this issue, it interviews Michael Schack from Engie, provides insights on the integration and forecasting of renewable energy as well as how campuses can become 100% renewable. It also looks into electrification of the transport sector including EV-charging infrastructure and provides updates on recent APUEA activities. The Magazine includes articles from ABB, Johnson Controls, Pöyry, Enfor, and Scania.

Read the full APUEA Magazine at: www.apuea.org/index.php/magazine